Hitting coordinator Masayuki Kakefu worked with Issei Morita on Sunday.

"He can hit the ball pretty far for a Japan person. That is his strength. I think it is better to consider him a mini Randy Bass instead of a mini Craig Brazell," Kakefu said. "I am looking forward to what he can do. There will be an open roster spot with [Shinjiro] Hiyama's retirement. He could be an interesting option in a situation where a new foreign player is still considered a question mark."

Shinta Hifumi had a rigorous workout during batting practice at Naruohama on Sunday -- each time he swung the bat and missed, ten more pitches were added to his total. By the time he was done, he had swung at about five-hundred pitches.

Pitching coach Kiyooki Nakanishi spent about thirty minutes working with Shintaro Fujinami on his pitching mechanics. A rubber tube was laid out in a straight line, perpendicular to a net. Fujinami stood on top of the tube at one end and threw into the net on the other end, each time making sure his left foot landed near the tube. Nakanishi sat on the ground directly behind him.

Fujinami has been throwing pitches across his body (when the left foot of a right-handed pitcher lands toward third). Nakanishi explained that this was happening because Fujinami was bending his right knee and allowing his weight to move toward third; his right foot was also placed at an angle against the rubber that made him throw across his body even more. The solution: to use the adductor muscles more and to place his right foot parallel to the rubber.

In an effort to keep the changes minimal, Kiyooki focused on just the right leg -- position of the right leg (making sure the right foot is parallel to the rubber) and usage (making sure the weight does not move toward third).

Exercises like this will be done once every other day during fall camp.

Ryosuke Ogata showed off his strong throwing arm during fielding practices on Saturday. Ogata is still a little slow on the transfer, but the Tigers believe he could be a candidate for the outfield next year.

Ogata also has speed and has good bat control (he likes to choke up on the bat).

"I played some right and left four or five years ago, so this is not new to me," said Brazell. "I checked on a few things while remembering what I did. If I am going to do this, I do not just want to stand around, I want to do it right. I think I did ok throwing the ball today. I threw them a little high. Still need more work with my feet. I will it will get better if I do some throwing for a week or two."

He then added, "I will be catcher during tomorrow's game. Just kidding. I will probably play left."

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Yuya Andohas dropped his arm angle a little (three-quarters). On his outing on Wednesday: "I was able to throw good pitches down low in the zone. Today was about throwing, not so much at an angle, but from an arm slot I felt comfortable with. I think I can throw better when I am throwing at around three-quarters instead of over the top."

4th round draft pick Kazuo Itowill also be heading to Naruohama after being diagnosed with periarthritis in his right shoulder. Ito started feeling discomfort in his shoulder while throwing the ball on Wednesday.

Incidentally, Yutaka Wada told reporters on Monday that even if Ito is not capable of playing in any games because of his right wrist, he still plans to have him attend games because there are plenty of things he can learn just by being in the dugout.

...that Takashi Toritani, Hiroki Uemoto, Yamato, and Keiichi Hirano will be considered for the top two spots in the batting order. He also said that he was thinking Murton and Toritani could bat one or three in the line-up (inter-changeable; he likes Murton's speed and Tortani's ability to get on base).

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Takahiro Arai's Sanspo Tigers' Promise: win another batting title and become the first Tiger since Randy Bass (1985-1986) to win batting titles in consecutive seasons. If he succeeds he will be presented with 50,000 yen in clothing for his children. If he fails he will give a Sanspo reader an autographed game-used bat and glove.

Team president Nobuo Minami is not against announcing starting pitchers, but does not want to make changes to the rule just to be like the Pacific League. He also does not think the rule should apply to Climax Series and Nippon Series games.

With 1 out in the top of the 6th and D.J. Houlton (Softbank Hawks) on the mound, Matsui hit a 1-0 fastball into center for his 1,500th career hit. The hit came in Matsui's 1,233rd career NPB game, which surpasses Alex Ramirez's (Yomiuri Giants) NPB record of 1,236 games.

Matsui's first career hit came on 4/9/1995 against the Nippon Ham Fighters.

Said Iwata regarding his outing, "Compared to my first [simulated game], I felt much better. I'm making good progress. I'm not 100% back, but there's no doubt that I'm getting closer."

Incidentally, after throwing 59 pitches during the simulated game, Iwata held a bullpen session to push his pitch count over 100 for the day.

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During Sunday's simulated game, Issei Moritawent 3-for-6 with 2 RBI, including two doubles, one off Iwata and another off Daiki Kiyohara. The Tigers have been pushing Morita to concentrate on using his lower body more when swinging the bat during fall camp.

The Tigers apparently decided to extend their practice sessions at the Naruohama training grounds until 11/30. Said Ni-gun manager Haruki Yoshitake, "The players on the farm need to catch up with the Ichi-gun players so this is an obvious decision. Hitting, fielding, I'd like the players to use this time to figure out how they want to move forward."